Thill-iron.



PATENTED AUG.8 1805.

G. HBILRATHI THILL IRON.

APPLIoATIoN FILED .4116.16, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN HEILRATH, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO WILLIAM E. KLEINSORGE, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

THlLL-IFION Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

v Applicationiled August 16, 1904. Serial No. 220,973.

To all wiz/0m it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN HEILRATH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thill-Irons, of which the following is a specification.

As is well known, the eye of the thill-iron frequently becomes entirely worn or so nearly so that it is dangerous to continue the use of the same, while the major portion of the thilliron is unimpaired. Under such conditions it is necessary to remove the entire thill-iron from the thills, thus necessitating removing the numerous bolts by means of which the said irons are secured to the thills. After the iron is removed it is reworked and a new eye forged, and inthe process of forging the iron becomes distorted to a certain extent and it is necessary to reshape it for the thills. In reshaping the hot iron is placed against the thills to ascertain whether or not it is of the proper shape, and thus the paint upon the thills becomes scorched and otherwise marred, thus necessitating the repainting of the thills each time the irons are forged. All of these disadvantages are obviated by my invention, since any unskilled person may readily replace a worn eye with a new one, as by my invention the end of the shaft-iron is provided with a socket in which is detachably secured anv interchangeable thill-eye. Further, by my invention it becomes unnecessary to remove the thill-iron from the thill in order to attach new thill-eyes.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a thill iron and eye constructed according to my invention, the parts being in section. Fig. 2 isasimilar view of a slight modification. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a modiiied construction. Fig. 4 is a similar view of Fig. 3 with the parts detached. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a modified form of eye.

In the drawings` 1 represents the thill broken away. The thill-iron 2 is secured to the thill by means of bolts 4 (only one shown) and terminates in a socket 5, the outer end of which is flared or conical, as at 6. This tubular socket may be provided with screw-threads 7, if desired.

8 is the thill-eye, having a shank 9 adapted to be inserted within the tubular socket 5, said shank being provided with screw-threads adapted to mesh with the screw-threads 7 in the socket 5. The lower portion of the shank 9 is cone-shaped, as at 10.

11 is a set-screw adapted to pass through the screw-threaded opening in the thill-iron, the end of said set-screw being pointed and adapted to enter a notch 12 in the shank 9.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the thill-iron 2 is provided with a rectangular socket 14, in which the shank 15 of the thill-eye 16 is adapted to be detachably secured by means of bolts 17.

In Fig. 5 I have shown the shank 18 of the thill-eye 19 as rectangular and provided with a bolt-opening 20. In Fig. 2 I have illustrated a socket 21 as being rectangular, and thus adapted to receive the rectangular shank 18, as shown in Fig. 5. In this particular construction the thill-eye is secured in a socket 21 by means of a bolt 22 passing through the thill-iron and through the opening 20 in the shank 18.

It will thus be seen that by my invention I have provided a thill-eye that may readily be detached for` any purpose whatever without disturbing the thill-iron and at the same time provide a thill iron and eye of a rigidity and strength of the common form heretofore employed.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a thill-iron having a socket in its end and a perforation extending transversely of the socket, a thill-eye, a shank extending from said eye and having a cavity adapted to register with the perforation in the thill-iron, and means adapted to be inserted through said perforation and enter said cavity for securing the shank in the socket.

2. The combination of a thill-iron having a socket in its end, said socket having a mouth divergng in all directions from the walls of the socket, a thill-eye, and a shank extending from said eye and having a base fitting the mouth of the socket.

3. The combination with a thiH-iron having a socket in the lower end thereof, a portion of which is screw-threaded, of a thill-eye, a shank extending from said eye, a portion of which is screw-threaded, said Shank being adapted to enter the socket of the thill-iron, the screw-thread oi" the shank intermeshing with the screw-thread of the socket, and means securing the shank in said socket independent of said screw-threads.

The foregoing Specification signed this 1st day of June, 1904. Y

CHRISTIAN HEILRATI-I. In presence of- A. B. REYNOLDS, WM. E. KLEINSORGE. 

